


The Perks of Exhaustion

by NeoDiji



Category: Code Geass
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Secret Revelation, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 17:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29282205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoDiji/pseuds/NeoDiji
Summary: Euphemia's well-intended Special Zone has spiraled into a bloodbath the likes of which she never expected. With her own plan failed, she and Suzaku turn to the Black Knights.Three days into the Black Rebellion, Zero and Suzaku are too exhausted to think clearly.(Maaaybe it's understandable to forget that not everyone knows you've been secretly dating your new ally for months.)
Relationships: Kururugi Suzaku/Lelouch Lamperouge | Lelouch vi Britannia
Comments: 22
Kudos: 96





	The Perks of Exhaustion

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I do not own Code Geass, nor do I make any profit from writing fanfiction.

Suzaku failed to keep from yawning as he landed the Lancelot at Ashford Academy, still the new headquarters for the Black Knights after the Special Zone Massacre. He exited his Knightmare, nodded to Tamaki on guard near the perimeter, and entered the Clubhouse Hall. It was still odd, seeing the old Student Council haunts used for rebellion purposes. A rebellion he’d recently been fighting against, at that.

“How are things?” Kallen asked, passing by on her way out. “We still holding the line?”

Suzaku nodded. “Britannia’s reinforcements aren’t here yet. Don’t die out there, Kallen.”

“Get some rest,” Kallen replied, the tense words barely out of her mouth before she was gone.

Suzaku turned his feet towards the Lamperouge Suite, his footsteps heavy as he made his way inside. As the door slid shut behind him, he made his way to the table—where he’d sat often enough for everyday meals, not that the Black Knights knew that particular tidbit. With a grunt, he collapsed into the seat next to Tohdoh-sensei, who was preparing to join Kallen on the front lines. “All going as planned,” Suzaku reported. “How are things?”

“Same as ever,” Diethard replied, who looked like he was still having trouble trusting that Suzaku had joined their side. “Princess Euphemia is resting alongside that schoolgirl—the blind girl in the wheelchair?”

Suzaku nodded.

Before he could say anything further, Zero entered the room.

Suzaku narrowed his eyes, assessing Zero from mask to high-heel. It was subtle, but Suzaku could tell Zero was exhausted from the slight slump of his shoulders to the way he leaned into his footsteps.

Or maybe it wasn’t so subtle.

Tohdoh-sensei frowned on his way out, shooting Diethard and Ohgi a look over his shoulder that clearly said, “Do something.”

“It’s been three days. Everything is going as planned. You need to rest, Zero,” Diethard urged. “I’ll show you to some sleeping quarters.”

“I’ll come too,” Suzaku said, stretching as he slid to his feet. “I’m beat from my shift.”

Zero turned to him. “Oh, so you’re inviting yourself to my bed?” He very pointedly looked Suzaku up and down. “If you _insist_ …I suppose I _could_ do worse.”

Ohgi and Diethard turned sharply and stared at him, eyes wide and glimmering with utter shock.

“St-stop teasing!” Suzaku hissed, trying to ignore the blush heating his face. “That wasn’t what I meant. But you knew that already, didn’t you?”

“Ah,” Zero said, the teasing still clinging to the edges of his words. “I’m glad you’ve come to accept that I know everything. I was beginning to despair that you’d ever acknowledge that fact.”

Suzaku rolled his eyes, hard, and brushed past Zero—purposefully bumping shoulders with him. The brief touch was enough to reinvigorate him, like rain after a drought. “I’m going to check on Euphy. Don’t wait up.”

“Replace Euphemia’s guards,” Zero said instead, talking to Ohgi and Diethard. “Go with him.”

Immediately, they fell into step behind Suzaku the short walk down the hallway to Nunnally’s room.

Suzaku rolled his eyes again, but he understood. The guards weren’t there to keep Euphy prisoner; they were to protect Euphy if Britannian forces somehow breached the school. It wouldn’t be unlikely, for Britannia to try to reclaim its rebel princess. Suzaku inhaled deeply before knocking and entering, stepping aside for Inoue and Yoshida to leave once they realized they were off-duty. “Good morning.”

Ohgi and Diethard followed him inside.

“Hello, Suzaku!” Nunnally chirped, dressed and ready for the day. Sayoko must have been here earlier.

“Good morning, Suzaku,” Euphy said, turning her smile on Suzaku’s companions. “And to you as well, Diethard and—Ohgi, wasn’t it?”

Ohgi dipped his head. “Princess.”

Euphy shook her head. “Oh, please don’t be so formal. We’re allies now, remember? And besides, I gave up my claim to the throne even before…before I lost control of my soldiers.” She winced, looking to the floor, her pain still evident.

“It’s not your fault that your people are violent and racist,” Ohgi said, sending her a soft smile. “We know you were trying to do a good thing, and it backfired in the worst way.”

Suzaku bowed deeply. “Yes, Princess—”

“ _Euphy_.”

“—please stop blaming yourself for the Massacre.”

Slowly, Euphy nodded. It was clear she wasn’t taking his words to heart, but at least she was no longer outwardly protesting. It was a start.

Nunnally tilted her head. “What’s got you so riled up, Suzaku? Besides the obvious.”

As Ohgi and Diethard found chairs, Suzaku straightened with a flourish. “Your brother,” Suzaku announced grandly, “is a jerk.”

Nunnally giggled behind her hand. “You say that, but you’re the one madly in love with him.”

Suzaku cracked a grin, winking at Euphy. “That’s exactly what gives me the right to call him a jerk.”

As intended, Euphy’s giggles joined Nunnally’s. It was nice to see smiles on both girls’ faces, after the stress of their lives being somewhat uprooted. At least they still had Ashford Academy.

Laughter tapering off, Nunnally probed, “And what did my brother do to deserve being called a jerk?”

“He propositioned me!” Suzaku said, exaggerating his tone just enough to make Nunnally and Euphy laugh again.

Off to the side, Diethard and Ohgi swapped a surprised glance.

Euphy held a hand to her chin. “He _is_ your boyfriend,” she pointed out. “You’ve been secretly dating for—how many months now?”

Suzaku quickly shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. He shouldn’t have teased me, especially in front of other people.”

Ohgi’s eyes widened again, while Diethard’s narrowed in clear concentration. “Wait, you mean—”

“Out there—”

Suzaku cleared his throat, effectively cutting them off. “Anyway. He’s a jerk.”

“But you love him,” Nunnally said softly.

Suzaku was silent a beat longer before lowering his head. “Yeah, I guess I always have.”

“He loves you, too,” Nunnally said, her voice strong with conviction. “We’re fine here, Suzaku. Go to him!”

Diethard started to rise from his chair. “When you say ‘him,’ you’re referring to—”

“My brother,” Nunnally explained, as if she’d been over the topic many times before. “His name is Lelouch Lamperouge. He’s—”

“The one who hasn’t been ‘home’ since the start of the Black Rebellion?” Ohgi asked, peering curiously—but at Suzaku rather than at Nunnally.

Suzaku winced, knowing he’d made a misstep but too tired to care much. Anyway, it was Lelouch’s fault for teasing him.

Nunnally turned her smile in the direction of Ohgi’s voice. “Silly. He has to have been home if Suzaku’s complaining about him.”

Avoiding the (other) Black Knights’ gazes, Suzaku shrugged one shoulder. “He’s probably waiting for me. Even though I told him not to. Kami-sama, he’s so stubborn…”

“No,” Nunnally argued lightly, “he just loves you dearly.”

Euphy made a shooing motion towards the door.

“Fine, fine,” Suzaku grumbled, turning on his heel. “Call if you need anything.”

Diethard and Ohgi miraculously said nothing as Suzaku made his way past them, into the hallway, and to Lelouch’s bedroom.

Sighing, Suzaku glanced around for privacy before keying in the new passcode to Lelouch’s room. As he stepped inside, his previously-ignored exhaustion hit him full-force, and Suzaku lurched to the bed he’d fallen into so many times before. Lelouch was already snoring softly, still dressed in Zero’s costume sans the mask.

It was the first time Suzaku had _seen_ the proof, but he couldn’t muster up any surprise. He’d suspected Lelouch for a long time, after all, enough to beg for Lelouch’s help—and Zero _had_ agreed to the Special Zone, before everything spiraled into a bloodbath. He’d been right all along. The Britannian mindset was too ingrained in current society, and the problems it had caused…

Suzaku sighed again, closing his eyes and trying not to see the innocent dead sprawled on his eyelids.

Instead, he tried to focus on something positive.

He had only to open his eyes for that.

Lelouch—was everything.

Suzaku had known that, but it was a good reminder. And now, with their finally being on the same side, with their secret lives not dragging at their romance…

For the first time, Suzaku climbed into bed as one hundred percent himself. Heart racing, he wrapped himself fully around his boyfriend, vowing silently with his whole heart, mind, and soul to protect and cherish this amazing, beautiful, talented person he was lucky enough to call his own.

“Suzaku,” Lelouch mumbled into his pillow, most likely on autopilot, and shifted further into Suzaku’s familiar embrace.

Suzaku smiled, moved the annoying Zero cape out of his way, pressed his face into Lelouch’s neck, and breathed deeply. “I’m with you,” he murmured back, just in case Lelouch’s subconscious needed to hear it. Together, they could do anything. That had always been their mantra, and it was truer than ever now. “I’m with you, and I’m never leaving your side.”

**Author's Note:**

> I can most likely be persuaded to write more in this fic 'verse. The Black Knights still have to confront them after all.
> 
> I hope I made you smile. <3


End file.
